Health workers will be going into patients’ homes to deliver the care they need in a bid to avoid people getting stuck in a spiral of regular hospital stays.
New community care proposals – which will also involve delivering more appointments at GP surgeries and care homes – are part of United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust’s (ULHT) Neighbourhood Health Model, and aim to reduce the strain on frontline emergency services.
Doctors will deliver car in the homes of their patients to prevent the need for hospital stays. Picture: Adobe Stock
In 2024/25, almost a thousand patients were back in hospital within three days of being discharged – and bosses admit that some people are being sent home too early because of a lack of resources.
ULHT deputy chief executive, Daren Fradgley, outlined the plans at a health scrutiny committee meeting at Lincolnshire County Council on July 16 – and the idea was supported by councillors.
Mr Fradgley said: “We know that we’ve got to remove pressure on frontline services and provide services which can be carried out at a resident’s home. We’re looking at ways to bring as many services as possible to people and to do this earlier enough so that they don’t require further services in the future.
“Instead of people coming to see a consultant in a hospital, we’re looking at how we can bring consultants to GP surgeries locally so that people don’t have to travel long distances. We need to be consultants at the heart of GP surgeries as quickly as possible.
“We’re also looking to get consultants to go to care homes and provide services at local hubs. This is about bringing healthcare professionals right into the community.”
Bosses admit patients are being sent home too early. Photo: stock
The hospital trust said that 976 people were readmitted to hospital within 72 hours in 2024/25.
Mr Fradgley added: “I don’t know a single person who works in the NHS to do a bad job but the pressures on the service mean that people often make mistakes. What I think we need to do is get the right care at the right time so that services don’t get overwhelmed.”
He went on to say that the number of different organisations operating within the trust makes it difficult to manage.
He added: “I would say that the NHS has become more complex. We have multiple different organisations within it. The whole system has got way too complex and difficult to manage.
“These partnerships can create a barrier between primary and secondary care. We know that we’re prescribing and discharging people earlier than we should because we’ve run out of capacity.”
The plans are part of the trust’s five year plan for 2025 to 2030.
The trust runs hospitals in Grantham, Boston, Lincoln and Louth.
Coun Karen Lee (Labour) said she backed the proposals.
She added: “I’m very supportive of the NHS and I think this strategy is absolutely necessary and I fully support it.”
Liz Ball, director of nursing at Healthwatch Lincolnshire, added: “We have found at Healthwatch Lincolnshire that transport for patients who are waiting to be discharged is often an issue.”
But Coun Richard Wright (Conservative) suggested that the hospital trust should be listening more to staff and patients about the issues that they’re facing.
He added: “There seems to be a massive lack of listening between patients and staff. They have suggestions on how things can be improved but no one is listening to them.”
In response, Mr Fradgley added: “We do listen to staff but we can never do enough listening and we know that we’ve got to do more.”